Background:

This hearing will focus on the vast economic potential that could stem from the greater development of our nation’s Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) energy resources – and the impact that increased energy development could have on prices. The Obama Administration has finalized a five-year plan for offshore leasing that shuts down access to any new areas for offshore energy development, and this Administration is still in just the early stages of offshore wind development as we await the first competitive offshore wind lease sale to occur sometime this Spring – let alone actual offshore wind energy production. Under the Obama Administration, federal oil and natural gas production has declined due to burdensome red tape and onerous bureaucracy. Meanwhile, energy development on State and private lands, not under federal regulation, has flourished.